"twochevrons" (twochevrons)
07/05/2014 at 19:22 • Filed to: project cars, relationships
5
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"twochevrons" (twochevrons)
07/05/2014 at 19:22 • Filed to: project cars, relationships | 5
| 10 |
My partner is incredibly supportive of my cantankerous-old-car habit. Not only does she happily put up with the countless hours spent in the garage, and the requisite grubby fingernails and constant smell of oil and grease that goes along with it; she is also a willing participant, going on drives with me, being an exceptionally able helper, and even financially supporting my addiction. Despite this, prior to today, she’d never actually driven any of my project vehicles, preferring to stick to the more modern, reliable and civilised portion of our fleet.
My latest acquisition, !!!error: Indecipherable SUB-paragraph formatting!!! , has been a slight point of contention. I’d bought it over some very sensible, well-reasoned objections from my wife, and I was eager to prove its value to her. It, on the other hand, has been somewhat recalcritant, having managed to disgrace itself in numerous ways in her presence.
!!! UNKNOWN CONTENT TYPE !!!
After a few weeks, I thought that I’d managed to nail all of the glaring issues, and we’d even managed to take it for a number of successful drives. Newly emboldened, I talked my partner into taking it for the weekly supermarket run. She’d like it, I thought – after all, it is fast, fun to drive, and an incredibly practical load-hauler. Naturally, things did not go so well. First, the driver’s door handle broke. Then, to add insult to injury, it sprang a coolant leak. She nursed it home admirably, avoiding any engine damage, but I can’t say the same for her faith in the car. Something tells me that it will take more than just a new door handle and a radiator hose to restore it...
I still count myself as lucky, in that she not only accepts my habit, but understands it, and even participates (albeit sometimes with some eye-rolling). Even if she doesn’t quite put up with old-car foibles as willingly as I, she’s still a good sport about it, and genuinely enjoys the fun parts of project-car ownership. The next step will be to get her comfortable on a manual gearbox – something tells me that she’d rather enjoy tearing around town in the MGA or Scirocco, if I can make them moderately reliable.
How do your friends/family/partners relate to your automotive projects? Stories, discussion, advice, and commiseration are all welcome in the comments!
PanchoVilleneuve ST
> twochevrons
07/05/2014 at 19:35 |
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I'm thankfully too broke to have a stupid automotive project, but she's very supportive of my over-expensive Warhammer 40k habit, in only a slightly eye-rolly way, so it bodes well for the future.
As does the fact that she wants to own a Volvo Amazon one day and has preemptively threatened to leave me if I fail to keep it running. Same with how she hasn't told me to stop showing her rad shit I find on Goo-Net.
desertdog5051
> twochevrons
07/05/2014 at 19:41 |
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Sounds like a good lady. If she is suspicious of the Volvo, do not get her an MG of any sort until she totally accepts that unexpected things happen sometimes. (In the case of the MG, most times).
jariten1781
> twochevrons
07/05/2014 at 19:46 |
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My wife is like the opposite. She'll whine and moan that I'm spending too much time in the garage but she loves driving the projects. She'll happily take a half way done machine, that I wouldn't even trust to get me to the gas station, to work every day for a week. She also constantly asks for me to do stuff to her car "I want coil-overs, I want an exhaust" haha, but she will not assist in the installs even as little as handing me tools. Too dirty is the complaint.
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twochevrons
> desertdog5051
07/05/2014 at 19:47 |
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Ha, the MG came with her! My father-in-law had it in storage for years, and gave it to us (as a non-running restoration project) when we got married. It's mostly roadworthy now, but I still haven't quite got it past the stage of breaking down every time I take it out. I swear, it IS possible!
RotaryLover
> twochevrons
07/05/2014 at 19:53 |
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Everyone thinks I'm insane because I own 2 cars. On top of that it's 2 Miatas. That I waste money buying unpratical sports cars instead of buying a house and a practical car that seats more than 2 people. The neighbours just want me to get rid of my NA like they wanted me to get rid of the FC I had before because it's old and takes space in my garage...But ohhh who they go see when something breaks? Me. I mean...argh. It's like I can't win. No one really took part of what I like.
Drew
> twochevrons
07/05/2014 at 20:05 |
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Brought my girlfriend to the track with me once a while back. She bought a manual 135i despite having no experience driving a manual (I had to drive it off the lot) that she loved and I thought it'd be a good idea since she drove like a maniac with a much less capable car before she picked up the 1-series. First time doing some lead-follow stuff she puts the car into the grass so hard that the on-site shop still has a picture of it on their wall for grass in 3/4 of the bead of the tire. When I got the car to the shop, the first thing my concerned Oppo boyfriend brain asks "Is everything fixable?"
"Well, does she hate you for coming to the track?"
"No, she had a good time today."
"Then everything is fixable."
Best date we ever had.
Still - she's keen on getting an automatic that gets decent mileage and is reliable (boring). But she really doesn't mind the projects since she knows where I'll be out drinking on the weekends (garage.) If she didn't get my obsession, I don't think we'd still be together.
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desertdog5051
> twochevrons
07/05/2014 at 20:26 |
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You must be an optimist to own an MG. Mine does not like wiring.
f86sabre
> twochevrons
07/05/2014 at 21:13 |
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This picture pretty much says it all. She is a driver on our LeMons team. Has been since day 1. She went to Le Mans with me last year and we slept in the grandstand. She loves F-1, hauls the kids around in my Evo while I drive her Cooper S (manual) and has been all over the world with me. When I put forth the bright idea of taking her and the kids on a driving vacation this summer, that happened to be the Hot Rod Power Tour, she was ok with it. She is also a cell and molecular biologist, a great cook and an amazing mom. I won the lottery.
Dead_Elvis, Inc.
> f86sabre
07/07/2014 at 01:14 |
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Does she have any single, like-minded sisters? Sounds you're a very lucky, happy man. Congrats!
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f86sabre
> Dead_Elvis, Inc.
07/07/2014 at 10:56 |
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Afraid not, but I am very lucky.